Aspirin and AMD

Aspirin and AMD
by Dan Roberts
November 2006

    This is an attempt to shed some light on the issue of aspirin and macular degeneration.

    In the spring of 2005, a large study introduced some interesting new information about aspirin. The study was done using 39,876 women over a 10-year period in order to clarify the suspected differences between men and women in the way that aspirin affects the system.

    To translate and summarize the conclusions of the study, 100 mg of aspirin every other day . . .

lowers the risk of stroke in women, but not in men
reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems in men, but not in women, EXCEPT women age 65 and older. (Information about men was not derived from this study, but from 5 other studies referenced)
has a greater benefit for people who don't smoke
increases the risk of gastrointestinal hemorrhages (i.e. gastrointestinal bleeding and peptic ulcer) in women age 65 and older

    The authors conclude by saying, "...any decision about the use of aspirin in primary prevention ... must ultimately be made after [consulting a] physician or health care provider, so that the net absolute benefits and risks for the individual patient can be ascertained." Here is the study, for those who wish to learn more:

    Ridker, P.M., et al. "Low-dose aspirin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in women." (The New England Journal of Medicine. Vol 352 (March 31) Pgs 1293-1304. 2005. Original paper at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/352/13/1293 )

    An earlier study that shed light on aspirin use in connection with AMD concluded that "therapy with ... aspirin is associated with decreased rates of CNV [choroidal neovascularization] among AMD patients." That study is:

    "Statin and aspirin therapy are associated with decreased rates of choroidal neovascularization among patients with age-related macular degeneration." (Wilson HL, Schwartz DM, Bhatt HR, McCulloch CE, Duncan JL. Department of Ophthalmology, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.)

    This connection is made, because AMD has been shown to have causes in common with cardiovascular disease. In other words, treat the cardiovascular problem with aspirin, and you might also be helping to prevent AMD. Here is that study:

    "Do age-related macular degeneration and cardiovascular disease share common antecedents?" (KK Snow, JM Seddon - Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 1999 - taylorandfrancis.metapress.com)

    Inflammation is now thought to be one of those commonalities, and we all know that aspirin is a good anti-inflammatory. (See http://www.mdsupport.org/library/c-reactive.html )

    The bottom line is that aspirin appears to be more beneficial as a preventer of AMD than harmful as a blood thinner. And now, with the advent of antiangiogenic treatments and the new findings regarding RNAi (see http://www.mdsupport.org/library/rna.html ), whether or not aspirin is a blood thinner may not hold the same import that it has in the past.

    I hope this information helps when it comes to a decision that needs to be made about the benefits of aspirin for MD people. All of our cases are unique, so it is important that we learn and apply such knowledge wisely.

Library Contents
MD Support Home Page